Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul may have just announced his 2016 White House run – in a tweeted photo of a mock turtleneck sweater sporting a presidential campaign message.

Paul, a likely but unconfirmed White House contender, was sending his annual 'airing of grievances' tweets as part of the fictional 'Festivus' holiday, made popular in the 1990s 'Seinfeld' sitcom.

'I've got a lot of problems with you people (mostly in DC),' he tweeted, 'and today you're going to hear about it! Stayed tuned for #festivus grievances.'

And what started as jabs about sweater vests worn by fellow Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum quickly switched on Washington's buzz machine when he added a Photoshopped pic of the garment sporting a 'Rand Paul 2016' slogan.

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Did a US senator just announce he's running for president on Twitter, or is he toying with us? Kentucky Republican Rand Paul tweeted this photo on Tuesday

Paul is an unconfirmed presidential contender but is expected to join a broad GOP field in the coming months, but he could just be referring to his Senate re-election bid

Paul's 'airing of grievances started with a jab at incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's fashion sense before he posted his own Photoshopped shirt

'Festivus' is a made-up secular holiday that the cantankerous 'Seinfeld' character Frank Costanza forced on his family each year two days before Christmas as an alternative to Christmas and Hanukkah.

Its celebration, he explained on the show, included a Festivus dinner during which people told their family members 'all the ways they've disappointed you' during the year.

Instead of a tree or menorah, the Costanza family erected an unadorned silver 'Festivus pole.' The day-long event also included 'feats of strength' and 'Festivus miracles' – which were ordinary events with simple explanations.

Paul's grievances included the gripe that 'no matter how many times I ask [McConnell],' he tweeted with a picture of the incoming Senate majority leader, 'he won't let me borrow this awesome sweater vest.'

'We all know having a fashion forward campaign is important to success, as [Santorum] showed us in 2012 #festivus,' came the second playful poke.

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'Of course, everyone has to be themselves, and I have my own style,' he tweeted. 'I think this will be a popular item this year.'

The mocked-up 'Rand Paul 2016' photo accompanied that message.

Many who follow the senator on Twitter took him seriously.

'Strangest way to announce you're running for President, achieved.' tweeted one user.

'If Rand Paul just announced his presidential campaign vis a vis a Festivus rant, I have to vote for him. No choicem' wrote another.

But others noted that Paul is also up for re-election to the Senate in two years.

Asked whether the senator was really making a campaign announcement about the presidency, a Paul spokesman wrote back – complete with a smiley-face emoticon: 'Senator Paul is running for the Senate in 2016 :-)'

'Ive got a lot of problems with you people!': Paul quoted Frank Costanza, a 'Seinfeld' character, who berated his family members around the dinner table two days before Christmas

On 'Seinfeld,' Frank Costanza, the crusty father of George Costanza, created Festivus as an alternative to Christmas and Hanukkah

He has signaled, however, that he could run for both the Senate and the White House simultaneously, a prospect that Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes has said she will try to block.

Grimes lost her own Senate bid to McConnell in November by a 15-point margin.

'The law is clear,' she told WHAS-TV a week ago. 'You can’t be on the ballot twice for two offices.'

'At the end of the day, we’re not going to be bullied,' she pledged.

Grimes herself could be a Senate front-runner if Paul were forced to choose and picked a presidential bid over running for a second six-year term in Congress.

Making a big political announcement on social media isn't unprecedented. Last week former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush used Facebook and Twitter to declare that he was launching a presidential exploratory committee.